Heart of a Lion Ch. 01

This is a little slow to get into, but it's my first attempt at writing erotica, so please give it a chance.

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Ella pushed a hunk of sweaty hair from her forehead away, scowling irritably. She'd always hated the outdoors, preferring to sit inside with a book and read. She should have never listened to her brother's when they talked her into going for a hike.

It was a hot, humid day, and the thickly forested trail they were following was steep. Her slender frame was covered in sweat, and her clothes stuck to her back and legs. She trailed miserably after her two energetic brothers, watching their legs pump enthusiastically along the path.

Her twin, Aaron, turned to see where she was, and he grinned cheekily at her. They didn't overly resemble each other, apart from sharing the family traits of wavy brown hair, round hazel eyes and a freckled complexion. They were both scrawny, although he had filled out more since he'd taken up hiking, and each had a thin pair of glasses perched on their noses. "Need to stop, sis?" he asked.

She nodded, too out of breath for anything further, and they both looked to their 24 year old brother, Scott, who was much further ahead now, and shaking his head at them. He was tall and where his siblings were scrawny, he had filled out and sported quite wide shoulders and a broad chest. Ella always felt safe around him, more so then her usually quiet, smaller twin.

His eyes and hair were both on the darker side of the spectrum, and he was one of the more handsome boys in the school. Ella knew that many girls were jealous of how close she was with him, even though she had grown up with him and saw him as her brother, it was common knowledge that he was adopted, and they weren't really related at all.

At 18 years of age, closer to 19, her and Aaron had been the happy accidents her parent's hadn't expected to have. Scott had been fiercely protective of his little siblings since they were brought home from the hospital, and it was with glee that, when the twins were seven, the parents announced that they were having another child. Now 12, their little sister, Anna, was the light of all their lives, pretty little Anna.

"There's a stream up ahead," Scott called down to them. "We can stop there and have a drink, weaklings." Ella ignored him, knowing he was baiting her. She merely trudged after him, head low. Aaron waited for her, and slugged her arm softly as she drew near, customary grin on his face. She smiled wearily back, eager for a rest.

There was a shadow in Aaron's eyes that had been in all of them since three years ago, when both their parent's had been killed in a car accident, taking Anna to hospital with a fever. Anna had survived, barely. Their family had almost been broken then, during the grief and turmoil, they had almost let it happen, until Scott, steady, trustworthy, protective Scott, had rallied together, and fought for his family. He'd become their legal guardian, and worked himself to the bone to provide a home for them.

They finally reached the stream, and she threw her pack down and eagerly reached to cup a handful of water, when she felt hands around her waist, lifting her. With a screech, she reared back, trying to escape, only realizing it was Aaron as he scooped her up and threw her into the stream. Curving her body as she reached the water, she managed to hook her leg around his and drag him in with her, the cool water shocking her hot system, as they panted and laughed hysterically in the water, splashing each other.

"What a pair of weasels," Scott remarked drily. "What have you two soaked monsters done with my well-mannered siblings?" Ella giggled and splashed him, but he evaded it. Getting out of reach of their tomfoolery, he shouted back to them, "I'm going to go check the trail, you two have fun. Dry off before I get back." They didn't reply, distracted by trying to dunk each other.

They eventually climbed out the water, and flopped onto the shore, both exhausted by now. While waiting for both their brother and their clothes to dry, Ella noticed Aaron slipping off to sleep, and closed her eyes as well.

When she opened them, it was noticeably dimmer in the clearing, and neither of her brother's were anywhere to be seem. She sat bolt upright, noticing that both hers and the two boys packs were still nearby, she figured they couldn't be too far. A glance at the sky confirmed that it was past time for them to head home, without even reaching the lookout they were aiming for. Anna was at a friend's house for tea, but someone had to be there when she got home.

She stood and stretched, hooking her fingers together and pushing her arms above her head. Anyone watching would have noticed how she arched her back as she did so, pushing her small breasts against her shirt, her slender tummy defined by the thin cloth. Then she started off, following the path, calling for her brothers.

For what felt like a long time, there was no answer, and she felt a small fire of worry start up in her belly. Then, just when she had decided to return to the clearing and fetch their phone, to alert the forest rangers, she heard Aaron's voice, shouting.

Panic shooting through her, she sprinted towards the raised voice, off the path, shoving branches out of the way. Suddenly, she felt something running towards her, and turned just in time to see the dark shape that hurtled into her, slamming both her and it into a tree, dazing her. She was aware of grabbing at it, trying to stop the world from spinning, and it ripping itself from her grip, taking off again, without her even getting a look at it.

She must have made a noise, because suddenly, Scott was there, fussing over her. "El, El! Are you ok?" he cried. She nodded blearily, and took the hand he offered, standing up shakily. Aaron was behind him, deathly pale.

"It nearly got her too!" he cried. Ella blinked at him, not trusting herself to form words, then glanced to Scott. She gasped as she noticed a horrible looking wound on his shoulder, bleeding sluggishly.

"What happened?" she asked him, reaching towards it with her free hand, the other still clenched at her side. He jerked away.

"It was just an animal, I startled it," he muttered. "It's almost stopped bleeding already, don't worry." She stared at him, she could tell when he was lying, he wouldn't meet her eyes. There was something he was hiding, but what? "Hurry up, we have to get home," he snapped. "We're late because you guys were stuffing around."

Aaron looked a cowed as she felt, neither of them mentioned how they'd been waiting for him to get back, they just followed him meekly back to their packs. She glanced at her right hand, still clenched at her side, and slowly opened the fist, revealing a handful of long, course, brown fur.

What on earth had happened, she wondered.

It was a quiet week at home, the only one who really said anything was Anna, who seemed oblivious to any sort of negative emotions from her siblings. Scott either hid in his room, or wasn't home, not even coming home for the family dinner he'd previously insisted upon every night.

Ella cornered him one night, as he came in late. "How's your shoulder, let me look at it," she demanded. He shouldered her aside.

"I told you, it's fine. Almost healed already." He stalked past and headed for his room. Ella sniffed as he went past, trying to seem mopey, but he ignored her.

As he opened the door to his room, a small wind blew through, throwing back the familiar smell of his deodorant. She wouldn't have noticed it, so familiar it was, if not for a sudden unfamiliar tang. She blinked, the strong musky tang thick in her nostrils, confusion clouding her face. The door slammed shut, hiding both him and the strange smell from her.

Anna popped her head out of her room. "Was that Scott?" she asked blearily. "He was supposed to take me to get things for my excursion."

Ella frowned. Anna was going away for three days, on a trip to a beach, and the shopping should have been done already. "You should be asleep, you leave in the morning. What things?"

Anna shrugged, her curly hair messy around her face, adorable in its sleepiness. "Aaron took me. I just wanted to go with Scott, was all. Goodnight." She closed the door softly, and Ella felt a spark of anger. It wasn't like Scott to fall back on a promise, especially to Anna, who he adored. She stormed up to Aaron's room, and burst in.

He was on his bed reading. "You could knock," he remarked, eyes not moving from his magazine. "I could have been busy." He was dressed for bed, in just his baggy track pants, and had obviously been dozing off.

"Ew, Aaron." She flopped onto the bed next to him, and he moved aside for her, still reading. "Scott was supposed to take Anna to the store today."

He looked at her, eyes grim. "Yeah I know. It's not like him." There was a quiet moment, as they both wondered about the changes in their brother, then Aaron sighed. "He's home? I can talk to him... I guess."

Ella beemed. "He likes you, he'd listen to you. I'm just his baby sister, he trusts you."

Aaron grinned now, then stood. "Fine, I'll talk to him. Wait here." He left the room, pulling the door shut behind him, and she picked up his abandoned magazine, and settled to wait.

It wasn't a long wait. Aaron appeared again quickly, no sign of the grin. "Well," she asked, already knowing how it was going to end.

"He didn't say anything. Just listened to me then said everything was fine, and asked me to leave so he could sleep."

Ella felt a ball of pent up worry in her chest. "Where do you think he goes? He's not working."

Aaron shrugged. "I don't care. If he doesn't want to talk about it that's his problem. I'm going to sleep now." She took that as a cue to leave, and bid him farewell, before returning to her room, and changing for bed into thin flannel pajamas.

She wasn't going to give up as easily as Aaron, she decided. If Scott wouldn't tell her where he was going, she'd tag along. She'd hidden in the back of the four wheel drive they used to hike in before, the one that Scott used to travel. The only difference now was that she wasn't going to jump out and scare her brother, she was going to spy on him.

Having decided this she settled down to sleep. As she dozed off, she could still smell the thick musky scent she had smelt on her brother earlier, and she tossed and turned, as it filled her dreams with visions of woods and streams, flickers of a dark, furry shape in the corner of her mind.

She would have no recollection the next morning, of stirring slightly in the middle of the night, restless with a strange longing for the dream world, her mind blank except for the visions of fur and trees. She threw her blankets off, eyes glazed and still half asleep, rolling about on the bed as though she was having a nightmare.

There was a dull ache in her tummy, and it slowly grew in pressure, spreading down into the space between her legs and filling them with a restless throbbing desire. She wasn't even aware of how aroused she was, as she sunk back into dreams, rubbing herself against the bed and moaning softly, in her mind seeing something that filled her with fire. The sensation peaked without bringing her any relief, and she fell back to deep sleep, muttering to herself.

In another room up the hall, her older brother felt a cold wind brush against him from the open window, as he thrusted furiously into the brown haired woman who'd crept into his room, his hands tight on her hips, as she lay on her knees in front of him, facing the wall and moaning softly. He didn't know her, had never seen her before tonight as far as he could remember, but the only thing that mattered at the moment was his cock pounding into her pussy, was making her thrash under him, as he reached his climax and released into her, feeling his essence gush into her, making his bare his teeth in an uncharacteristic snarl, as he dug his fingers tight into her flesh.

He pulled out of her, and slumped panting on the floor, his cock soft now and covered in both his and her juices. He stared at her pussy, the wet folds of it, and felt a hungry stir in his groin as he imagined licking up those juices, them dripping down his chin. His cock didn't respond, but he groaned and rocked his hips, unable to shake the desire.

She turned and faced him, her face twisted into a smile. It looked unnatural on her, as she slid over to him and rubbed against him, pushing her breasts against his bare chest, and leaning to kiss his shoulder. "You will be ours, Scott Huntfield," she purred. "You already feel it, the desire that burns in you. Not many resist as much as you, you have the heart of a lion." Scott felt panic shoot through him, feeling her words twist through his brain, and his muscles shake as they ached to respond to her call.

He knew what she wanted, as she licked at the faint scar where a week ago, a wolf had bitten him. Somehow he knew and he wasn't at all shocked as he watched her body ripple, and her hair begin to spread down her back, becoming stiff fur, that stood on end as he ran his fingers over it. Her teeth lengthed as she controlled the change, and smiled up at him as she sunk those teeth into his shoulder, tearing it horribly, making him moan and thrust frantically against her, wanting to be inside her again.

This visit would last all night, as the visits before that had. Scott wasn't to know, but his transformation had begun the day they hiked in that forest, as the wolves had decided that Scott and his family would become one of theirs.